


Sugar Pills

by neonsign



Series: Protagshipping Week [4]
Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 02:23:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6354937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neonsign/pseuds/neonsign
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Tell me a story."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Day 5:**  
>  **Mitigate** _(verb)_ – to become milder in force or intensity
> 
> vague mentions of blood and stuff, nothing too graphic, i think.  
> also, technically it's a continuation from the [previous day](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6345238), but you don't have to read it if it doesn't interest you; this can stand on its own.  
> eta: i actually have no clue why they're seperate idk what im doing lmao

“I’m sorry,” Minato said.

Souji kept his back to him, arms wrapped around his knees and eyes on the entranceway to the dead end they were taking refuge in. Their swords were beside them, just within reach should something come after them while they waited for the others to return. Minato glanced at them as he raised a hand to rest on Souji’s back. Flat on the ground, exhausted, the highest he could reach was somewhere around the middle. The muscles in Souji’s back were tense, so Minato lazily massaged his knuckles against them. Up and down, and little circles he hoped felt at least a little good.

Souji shifted in response and sighed.

Minato’s other hand felt down his own side, looking for the wound the FOE left, but nothing was there anymore. The only lasting traces were the stain turning his shirt a blackish red and a pain that suggested something didn’t heal right, like dropped stitches in knitting. Yukari had tried her best to fix him, but the Pride Exhibit had pushed the whole team to their limits and exhaustion affected what miracles they were capable of.

Fingers closed around his wrist. As if he sensed what Minato was doing, Souji had turned around and was pulling his hand away from his side, bringing it to his mouth to kiss his knuckles. It left a smear of blood by the corner, which Minato wiped away.

“You alright?”

Minato nodded. “I’m alright.”

“I’m so sorry. This is all my fault,” Souji mumbled. “If –”

“Wait, what? No, it’s –”

“Shh.” Something caught Souji’s eye at the entrance to the dead end and he tensed, free hand hovering over his katana’s hilt and face hardening into the same one he wore while fighting. When no Shadow leaked out of the dark, he softened again and turned back to Minato. “If I had taken stock of our inventory or if I hadn’t pushed everyone forward – but we’re so close, I got impatient and –”

“Mm, no, I’m pretty sure I was the one fighting recklessly again.” Minato pinched the first part he could reach: with Souji leaning over him, it was his cheek. Not that he would admit it, but he was a little unnerved to hear how faint his voice was. “Don’t blame yourself.”

Souji let go of his wrist. To his credit, his smile almost looked genuine. “Nah, I was watching you; you were being more careful than normal, but… People get hurt. That’s inevitable. It’s my job to be prepared for when that happens and I wasn’t. This is my fault.”

An uncomfortable silence settled over them. Minato wanted to think of words that could comfort him, apologize, let him know that everything was alright. He wanted to do for Souji what Souji had done for him, what Souji did for everyone, but he had nothing to give. His mind was blank.

Not overly keen on the guilt staring at Souji’s anxious face instilled in him, Minato closed his eyes and pinched his shirt away from where it stuck to him – sweat or blood, he couldn’t tell – and reveled in the little breeze it created when he billowed it. Until the repetitive motion wore his arm out like he’d been lifting weights. He let it fall to the floor and sighed.

“It’s so fucking hot. This is the worst one, easy.”

“Worse than the Spirit Club?”

“I hate being hot. Ghosts are nothing.”

Souji laughed a little and Minato was so glad to hear it that he opened his eyes to see his smile. “That look on your face when you ran into that bathroom stall said otherwise.”

“That was an FOE, not a ghost.” Minato gestured to his side. “You see why I’m not overly fond of FOEs. More tangible.”

Which wiped the smirk off Souji’s face. What little progress they had made unraveling, he sighed and sat back, wrapping his arms around his knees. “Sorry.”

“Hey, no, I’m just kidding. It’s not your fault,” Minato said gently, reaching for some part of him to touch reassuringly. All he could get was his shin. 

They fell into another silence. For once in his life, Minato actually wanted to talk. He wanted to better try and soothe Souji’s anxieties, but talking had worn him out, his side was aching, and he could barely think let alone articulate his feelings. He couldn’t do that even on the best of days, let alone those in which he had nearly bled out.

But what little they had said had already helped to mitigate some of the pain in his side and taken Souji’s mind off his perceived failure, at least for a little while. What Souji needed was a way to help instead of just uselessly sitting around and stagnating. From what Minato knew of the guy so far, helping made him feel better.

“Hey, talk to me.”

Souji propped his elbow on his knee, his chin on his palm. “What about?”

“Anything. Listening to you helps distract me from the pain.” Minato put a hand over his side for emphasis and wondered if Souji could see through his bad acting. He wasn’t exactly used to playing the damsel in distress. “And you have such a nice voice.”

Souji stared at him blankly. He wasn’t buying it.

“Tell me a story,” Minato prompted. Souji’s other hand was resting on the floor at his side, so Minato reached over and took hold of it. Souji squeezed gently. “You said you’re in drama club. Put those skills to use and tell me a story. C’mon.”

“Alright, alright,” Souji sighed. “Uh…”

He looked off toward the entrance, his eyes glazed over in thought. For a long, long time.

Minato squeezed his hand. “‘Once upon a time…’”

“Once upon a time,” Souji repeated, smiling faintly, “uh… there was a, uh…” he looked down at Minato and caught his eye, “a boy.”

“Uh huh.”

“And… this boy…” Souji’s eyes rolled up as he thought. “This boy… was cursed by… he doesn’t know what. An angry spirit, a witch, or some ancient family blood… thingy.”

“A blood thingy. Okay. What does the curse do?”

“The curse… started when he was just a child. And it, uh… Oh. Starting from his heart and moving outwards, he slowly becomes encased in ice.” The more Souji spoke, the more the words poured from him with a natural ease. Minato had to wonder just how much was constantly turning over in his head compared to how little actually made it out of his mouth. “In the beginning, the ice simply crumbled and reformed when he moved. Annoying, but he was still able to get on with his normal life. Sometimes it even came in handy; on the hot summer days while everyone else was feeling the heat, he stayed cool. Bugs couldn’t bite him, winter barely bothered him – with a tough outer shell, nothing much did. But as the boy grew older, the ice became thicker and thicker until he could barely move. He feared one day he would become nothing more than a statue.”

“Wouldn’t that just kill him? If it’s around his heart and stops him from moving –”

“Do you want to hear my story or not?”

Minato snickered, hissing through his teeth when a jolt of pain shot through his side.

“Whatever the boy thought,” Souji continued, his eyes flicking down to Minato’s abdomen, “his heart still worked – the curse just stopped him from feeling it.”

Minato chewed the inside of his cheek, hard enough to hurt. The pain was dying down again but his breathing was becoming shallow like he was nervous, too scared to move too much. Which he wasn’t, he was fine.

“What happened next?”

“Um… The healer – there was a healer in town that knew of a special medicine. It couldn’t cure him, but it made it so that the boy could bear the curse from day to day. And so the boy soldiered on,” Souji said, gesturing dramatically. He was getting into it a little, which made Minato smile. “He became something of a legend around his little town and attracted a circle of friends. There was something undeniably beautiful about him; the way he sparkled in the sun and left a trail of frost whenever he moved.”

The floor was starting to dig into Minato’s shoulders and tailbone. Without support, the small of his back felt like it was collapsing, being pulled straight in ways it shouldn’t be. He tried moving into a more comfortable position. It didn’t work. At the very least, he could undo his tie and unbutton his shirt in some futile attempt at cooling the hell down.

“Are you okay?”

“Hot. Being covered in ice is starting to sound good.”

Souji leaned over and helped with the bottom few buttons. “The others should be back soon.”

Minato bit his lip and squirmed when Souji’s fingers grazed his skin. He stared at Souji’s lips, parted in concentration, overcome with the overwhelming realization that… this was it. They were on the final labyrinth and once the others came back, Souji would return with another team to finish it up.

This was the only way they were ever going to know each other – fighting to get away. They could never be people that did dumb shit like go for dates or just hung out and watched TV. This conversation would never be held in one of their bedrooms, just relaxing, talking about school or work or things their clubs got up to. They could say what they wanted about remembering and meeting again, but Minato couldn’t shake a feeling of foreboding.

“I think I know this story,” he said.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. The boy ends up falling for a prince.”

Souji didn’t say anything for a moment, just looked down at Minato with that composed face. “Does he? I don’t know if I’ve heard that version before.”

“Yeah. The Prince of Elasticity.”

Souji burst out laughing before slapping a hand over his mouth and glancing toward the entrance again. Minato smiled, but it had vanished from his face by the time Souji looked back at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He’s a shapeshifter,” Minato said, running his fingers over where he was injured again. Still just smooth skin, but the memory of what the gash had looked like wouldn’t go away as easily. Again, Souji slid his fingers around his wrist and gently urged his hand away, this time settling it atop his thigh. Whatever he was thinking, it was impossible to tell.

“Is that a curse too?”

“Nope. Self-taught. The prince is smart and talented like that.”

“Hm…” Souji tilted his head. “Why did the prince learn such a thing?”

“Because, uh…  good question. He – the prince is always lonely,” Minato said. “The king and queen are too busy with royal duties to pay him any attention. They’re always dragging their little family around the kingdom for meetings with dignitaries, or… whatever the hell royalty does.

“Eventually, uh… the prince starts sneaking out of the castle to mingle with his subjects. His first time among the common people, he’s scared, so he wears a mask to hide himself. In their kingdom, masks are common. No one treats him any differently and that’s sort of what he wants, but he also wants more. It’s just as lonely as living up at the castle.”

“So he teaches himself to shapeshift.”

“Yeah. Then people open up to him because he becomes who they need him to be. He’s good at reading people, see. To some the prince is kind and patient, always waiting for them to make the first move. To others he leaps into action at the smallest notice, always ready to fight and protect the meek from danger. Whatever the truth is, he does it out of love for his subjects. His friends. The prince is a good person. That’s what the boy… likes about him.”

“Hmm…”

Souji smiled at him and Minato had to avert his gaze. Not wanting to look away entirely, he ended up staring at Souji’s neck and the collarbone barely visible beneath his shirt. The Pride Exhibit was suddenly much hotter and his breathing much shallower.

“The thing is,” Minato said, pushing on, “even the most pliable material has its breaking point. The boy warned him that if he wasn’t careful, if he kept putting others before himself, he might lose his original form. Or he might snap all together.”

“The boy must claim to be quite the expert,” Souji said lightly, softly, but not without a hard edge. “If the prince has so many deceitful faces, how does the boy trust the one he fell for?”

“Because in the end, every face really is the prince. He’s not the type to become someone he truly isn’t, but who he _is_ , is… a lot. Besides, whatever optimistic spin you try to put on it, a curse is a curse and the boy is separate from those who don’t have one. To live among them, he’d have to learn to act like them, right? All while the ice reflects whoever looks in it and people use him as a mirror. I think that the boy would see that part of himself in the prince and understand him better than many others could.”

Souji’s face softened.

“I see.”

That bad feeling, the one ever-present in the back of Minato’s mind, grew just enough to remind him of everything bad opposing the two of them. Separation and forgetting memories, and Minato turned his head and closed his eyes, fighting the urge to bite his tongue until it bled. There was a rustling of fabric and Souji let go of his hand.

“Hey, look at me.”

Just to be stubborn, to revel in the fleeting satisfaction of acting like a child, Minato considered not moving. But there must’ve been something that truly made Souji worthy of leadership because he ended up obeying before the thought could be fully formed. Souji loomed over him, a hand on either side of his head. Before Minato could say anything, he leaned down and kissed him.

“You’re not doing a very good job of keeping watch,” Minato mumbled when Souji kissed his nose. “We’re gonna get murdered because you can’t keep your hands off me.”

Souji’s only answer was to kiss his cheek, his temple, his forehead, and suddenly that was fine. Minato didn’t want more words as an answer. If they could just keep doing this, if they could pretend for a while, get lost in another world and not have to face reality, then it was all fine.

To push everything else out of his head, Minato met it all with a desperate kind of intensity. Like they were just two normal teenagers making out in one of their bedrooms, not in some world that barely existed, surrounded by monsters and covered in blood, he grabbed Souji’s shirt and pulled him down onto his elbows. Bit his lips, sucked his tongue, did everything he could so that he didn’t have to think about anything at all. Because as long as Souji was breathing hard and tasting sweet, everything was normal. They were normal and they were going to be alright. He had to believe they were going to be alright.

“Hey,” Souji whispered, “how does the story end?”

Minato opened his eyes and looked into Souji’s. His cheeks were flushed, his lips were slick, and his hair a mess. Minato smiled and smoothed it down, brushing his fingers against his cheeks, over his lips.

“Souji! Minato!”

Souji swore under his breath and pulled away, taking with him all the warmth in the world. Minato squeezed his eyes shut and listened to the approaching footsteps.

“ _There_  you guys are,” Yosuke sighed in relief.

After the quiet clicking of claws on the floor, something cold and wet touched Minato’s cheek. Koromaru was sniffing his face. Rushing toward them from the mouth of their little corridor was Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, and Aigis. In spite of exhaustion, of the bad mood quickly taking over him, Minato still managed to lift his arms and wrap them around Koromaru’s neck.

“Hey, buddy.”

“Koromaru is thankful you continue to live,” Aigis said. “As am I.”

“I went as fast as I could,” Yosuke said, out of breath and gesturing with the notebook containing all their maps. “We got Goho-M and Yukiko, so it’s up to you how you wanna do this. We can walk, if you want, or – I know teleporting can be kinda rough. Up to you guys.”

Souji got to his feet and clapped Yosuke on the arm. “Thanks, Yosuke. I knew I could count on you.”

Yosuke looked immensely pleased but waved it away like it was nothing. Yukiko’s Persona emerged, enveloping Minato in a healing light that made him feel a bit airy, but still exhausted.

“Thank you,” he mumbled as he got to his feet. She nodded once.

“Certainly.”

Souji looked him over, touching his side gently. Minato wondered how it looked to the others. If they had seen anything. The cautious way Souji trailed his fingers over Minato’s side, it could’ve been passed off as the Leader checking on his second-in-command. Minato wanted to rest his head against Souji’s shoulder but as long as they weren’t alone, he couldn’t.

“Are you okay? Here, your shirt’s still…” Souji began buttoning his shirt, looking down at his hands and not at him. Minato brushed him away and did it himself.

“I’m fine. Uh… thanks.”

“Yeah. Are you ready to go?”

Shirt buttoned all the way to the top but tie still hanging loose, Minato walked over to where his sword lay discarded and picked it up. The familiar weight and the reassurance of no longer being helpless was somehow more irritating than satisfying. At that moment, everything was.

They ended up taking a Goho-M. Even with Yukiko’s healing, the damage was done and there were things that couldn’t be magicked back. A wave of light and a lurch of nausea that always came with teleportation brought them back to the entrance. They were greeted with a worried crowd – and with both teams together, it really was a crowd. If he wasn’t so worn, maybe Minato would’ve had the heart to feel touched that they’d been worried, but at the moment all he wanted to do was sleep and they were so goddamn noisy. He leaned against Souji, who seemed to take his meaning, and put Minato’s arm around his shoulders, telling the others he needed to rest.

Inside the nurse’s office was cozy and quiet. Considering the place more or less belonged to Elizabeth, that should’ve been worrying, but Minato could only muster the energy to be grateful. Souji kept his back to him while he took off his shoes and stripped down to his boxers, and only turned around once he was curled under the blankets. Judging by the faint blush on Souji’s cheeks, there were things they were both leaving unsaid about it.

“Uh – I’ll let you rest,” Souji said. Before he could turn to leave, Minato reached out and grabbed his wrist. “What?”

“Stay here.”

“I – I was going to take another team in to finish the labyrinth. We’re almost done.”

Minato tightened his grip.

Souji hesitated for a moment before kicking off his shoes and undoing his belt, shedding his jacket, eyes never leaving Minato’s face – which almost made him wish he wasn’t close to passing out. He held back the blankets and Souji hesitated again before climbing under them.

“The bed’s not really meant for two people.”

Minato mumbled something that could have been considered a response and nestled his head under Souji’s chin. He smelled like sweat and skin. Not really good, but not really bad. Just very human. He had one arm stretched out under Minato’s neck and the other over his shoulder, bent to rest a hand on the back of his head. Minato curled his legs around one of Souji’s, bringing them just that much closer.

“I’m really glad you’re okay,” Souji mumbled. “I can’t believe I fucked up so badly.”

“I told you it was my fault. I still need to work on being careful.” Minato pulled back the collar of his shirt – the top couple buttons undone like always in some form of casual pretentiousness – and kissed his collarbone. Souji let out a shaky sigh and then an embarrassed laugh.

“Go to sleep.”

“Yeah. I am.”

The arm around Minato tightened and Souji’s chest expanded with a deep breath. Feeling Souji’s uniform against his bare skin, it was like a reminder of how vulnerable he was making himself. This wasn’t like him. None of this was. Getting attached, opening himself up to someone else. There was no way it wasn’t going to hurt in one way or another.

“Hey,” Minato whispered.

“Mm.”

“I don’t know how the story ends.”

“Me either,” Souji breathed.

Minato stared blankly. All he could see was Souji’s neck and collarbone. The smooth skin just beneath his shirt. It was physically impossible for them to get any closer, but damned if they didn’t try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> souji: minato stop fighting like an asshole  
> minato: ok  
> [camera cuts to minato lying in his own blood]


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Day 6:**  
>  **Athazagoraphobia** _(noun)_ – the fear of forgetting, being forgotten or ignored, or being replaced
> 
> i realized too late that i wrote pretty much the exact same scenario w/ yosuke (more or less) in Day 1, but listen: i'm a one trick pony and i'm too sleepy to care

Minato woke up and Souji was gone. It wasn’t like in the movies where there was an intense panic, a moment of confusion as some pathetic fear of abandonment kicked in and overrode sense. But as he stared down at the crisp white blankets beside him (cool when he put a hand to them, not warm), an uneasiness started to settle into the pit of his stomach. It didn’t go away when he closed his eyes and pulled the sheets over his head, and it didn’t go away when Elizabeth pulled them down again and congratulated him on once more escaping death. In her way, that was him being kicked out.

Minato swung his legs over the edge of the bed and started getting dressed before heading out. The bloodstain was still spread all along the side of his shirt, now dried and disgustingly stiff, but his jacket hid it as long as he kept it zipped up. Which made him feel stuffy as hell, but it was better than walking around and looking like a zombie. That fake school had enough of them.

Quietly sliding the infirmary’s door shut behind him, Minato stood in the hall, unsure of where to go. No one else was around, just the students that roamed the halls and said really nothing at all. A little like the Lost, but even more unsettling with the way they all looked the same. The Lost, however mindless, at least looked like individuals that once had their own lives and their own stories to tell.

From the first floor, the only place to really go was up – unless he felt like wandering around the yard, which he definitely didn’t. Minato started down the hall, wiping his sweaty palms on the insides of his pockets.

As he passed the bathroom doors, he ran right into someone coming out.

“Oh – sorry,” Kanji mumbled, catching Minato’s arm before he toppled backwards, unable to balance with his hands in his pockets. “Glad to see you’re up; Aigis kept tryin’ to sneak into the nurse’s office.”

“No doubt.”

Kanji jerked his thumb over his shoulder, toward the staircase. “Most of ‘em are up on the roof, if you wanna go.”

“I –” Minato turned his head, about to say no. To do what, he didn’t know. None of the booths were appealing and that was probably where he had been heading even before Kanji said anything. “Is Souji up there?”

“Yeah, last I saw.”

“He hasn’t taken you guys back into the labyrinth?”

Kanji shook his head. “Nope. Not since they brought you back. We’ve all just been hanging out.” Minato stared off down the hall for so long that Kanji started looking uncomfortable, rubbing the back of his neck. “I came down here to look at something in the workshop, but I was just heading back up there, if you wanna come with.”

Minato started, shaking his head slightly. “Uh – no, it’s… or maybe, yeah. Yeah, I’ll come.”

Kanji frowned and looked for a moment like he was about to say something, but turned around and wordlessly led the way upstairs. It wasn’t until the third floor that Kanji looked over his shoulder and caught Minato’s eye.

“You know, uh… Souji-senpai’s, he… I was talkin’ to him a bit while you were out. Whole time he was in a good mood. I mean – he was tore up that you got hurt and everything, but – y’know. He don’t say much, but I think it’s been good for him to meet someone else like him. One of you Wild Cards.”

Minato toyed with his zipper. “Oh.”

They reached the top of the stairs and Kanji paused with his hand on the door that lead to the roof, looking down at Minato with a thoughtful face. “Might not be my place or maybe I’m misreading this, but I know him and… if something’s eatin’ at you, I’m sure he’d wanna hear about it.”

Minato looked at Kanji for a moment. There was genuine concern and kindness in his eyes that clashed oddly with his… entire physical being. Despite the general and undefinable bad feeling that had been hanging over him, Minato couldn’t help but smile.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely.

“Ah – uh, yeah.” Kanji looked away and rubbed his nose, his piercing catching the light and glinting. “Well –”

Minato’s stomach rumbled and he pressed a hand over it. Kanji chuckled a little before pushing the door open.  Most everyone was on the roof, sitting around a few different tables, talking and laughing. The exceptions were Souji and Yosuke over by the food stands and Akihiko, Shinjiro, and Aigis, who didn’t seem to be on the roof at all. Only when the door fell shut – louder than Minato had expected – did anyone turn to look at them. Junpei grinned and waved them over.

“Yo! What’re you standing around for?”

“Come sit with us,” Rise smiled.

Kanji took a step forward but Minato reached out and grabbed his arm. He looked over his shoulder, again with that concern.

“Somethin’ wrong?”

“No, uh…” Minato dropped his arm, “but I’ve been meaning to – before I got hurt, Souji told me you talked to Ken?”

“Oh.” Kanji visibly deflated. “Should I not have done that?”

“No! I mean, yeah, thank you. I’ve… gotten the feeling that something was up with him but I’m not good with people so I never… I just ignored it and hoped it would go away,” Minato laughed faintly. “I shouldn’t have… When we get back, I’ll continue what you started. I’ll – I’ll take care of him.”

Kanji regarded him for a minute before nodding. “Good. He’s a good kid.”

“He is.”

“And y’know, it’s not like I’m any good with people either. You just gotta have the courage to try. If they’re any good, they’ll meet you halfway.”

Minato smiled again. “You’re right.”

“Damn straight I am. Now go sit down, I’ll get you something to eat. Don’t think I forgot you almost bled to death.”

Kanji took off before he had time to argue, heading for the food stands near Souji and Yosuke. Minato glanced at them before doing as he was told, heading for the table with Rise and Junpei. Whatever they were talking about, it was making Yosuke use lots of hand gestures and had Souji laughing.

“Glad to see you’re okay,” Rise said, pulling out the chair beside her and gesturing for him to sit.

“Thank you.”

“This guy’s probably used to it,” Junpei said from across the table. “You should see him back home; he’s even worse. No one to tell him what to do and he lets it go to his head.”

Junpei went on and eventually Minato started tuning him out, sitting with his hands pressed between his knees. He took a deep breath and let his eyes find their way back to the food stands. Kanji was talking with Souji and Yosuke now. Souji said something and Yosuke sneered, punching him in the arm. Gently, the way friends do when they joked around. Not Minato’s friends to him, but friends like Souji and Yosuke. Best friends.

Minato looked at Junpei, leaning his chair back on two legs and pushing his baseball cap back to scratch his head. Souji had said Yosuke was the first person he became friends with when he moved to Inaba, just like Junpei was for Minato, he supposed. But Junpei wasn’t Minato’s best friend. Sometimes it seemed like Junpei didn’t even like Minato. The thought of Junpei looking at him with Yosuke’s brand of puppy-dog admiration was a little unsettling.

Minato’s chest grew tight like it was in a vice, spreading through the rest of him until his shoulders ached and his back was in knots. He was in a bad enough mood, and sitting there listening to their happy chatter wasn’t doing anything to help.

Something touched the top of his head and he flinched to the side, bumping his shoulder into Rise’s. She turned around and noticed the person standing behind them at the same moment Minato did.

“Senpai,” she beamed. She scooted over, making room for Souji to drag a chair between them. “Here.”

With Souji on his left and Yosuke on his right, the tension in Minato’s shoulders doubled like he was carrying a physical weight. Kanji sat across from them, beside Junpei, and slid him a plate of yakisoba.

“There y’go. Eat up.”

“Thanks.”

“Yosuke,” Souji said, reaching very deliberately behind Minato and resting his arm along the back of his chair. “Gimme some of that.”

Without complaint, Yosuke held out a carton of takoyaki. Souji popped one in his mouth and offered another to Minato, who shook his head and gestured with the food he was already eating, but Souji wouldn’t take no for an answer. Most likely due to the smell, Minato’s stomach chose that moment to growl and Souji all but forced him to take the takoyaki. His other arm, Minato was very much aware, remained on the back of his chair.

“Anyway, like I was saying,” Yosuke said, “Kou said he’d invite me to the next group date he puts together.”

“You should,” Souji said. “It’d be good for you. You deserve someone nice and even if you don’t find them, you’ll have fun.”

Yosuke snorted. “No need to lay it on so thick. But I dunno. We haven’t really had good experiences with them. If I go, you’re coming with me. I refuse to suffer alone.”

“Ah… I don’t know.” The way Souji was twisted in his seat, talking to Yosuke around Minato’s slouched back, their thighs were flat against one another’s. “Group dates aren’t really my thing anymore.”

“‘Anymore?’ What, did this place turn you off them that much?” Yosuke laughed and nudged Minato’s arm. “You too, I guess, huh?”

Minato shoved enough yakisoba in his mouth to be an excuse not to say anything and there was an awkward pause. From the way Minato slouched further forward – or maybe Souji pulled away a little – his arm was no longer touching his back.

Yosuke took the silence in stride and kept rambling about girls and group dates. Rise overheard and joined in, bringing Junpei’s and Kanji’s attention with her. Eventually Mitsuru and Fuuka found their way over from the other table and joined in. For people who had never been on a successful group date, they sure had a lot to say about the topic, though Rise was the most successful at bullshitting her way through it.

It was funny. Truly. They were all endearing people.

“Excuse me,” Minato mumbled, putting his food down and getting to his feet. Souji’s arm fell off his chair when he got to his feet and pushed it back.

Minato was inside and halfway down the first flight of stairs when the door opened behind him.

“Hey, wait,” called Souji’s voice. Minato stopped on the landing and Souji jumped the last couple stairs to meet him, still managing to land quietly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m going to take a piss.”

“Minato.”

Anyone else, any other time, and maybe he would’ve been able to be convincing. Being so obvious wasn’t like him. Getting so attached wasn’t like him. None of this was. Out of time and space and sense of self and –

“You should get back,” he said, sidestepping around Souji and heading for the stairs. “I bet your partner misses you.”

“Oh. Are you jealous?”

Minato came to an abrupt halt, jaw clenched, glaring at Souji over his shoulder. It took a moment, but Souji seemed to realize something. He shook his head and held his hands up defensively.

“I didn’t mean jealous of Yosuke, but what they were all talking about. The group date thing. You don’t have to worry,” he said, touching Minato’s arm. “I wouldn’t go.”

“Why not? You should.” Souji’s arm fell to his side. He stared at Minato. Minato stared at the floor, speaking as calmly as ever. “When we get out of here… if we forget, you’re going to forget you have a reason not to go. Even if you do remember, waiting around for me and missing opportunities – I don’t want that on my conscience. You should go. You’ll have fun.”

“You don’t think we’re going to remember?”

There was a long pause while Minato chewed his lip.

“Just talk to me,” Souji pleaded. “If you would get your head out of your ass, you would know you’re not the only one that’s been thinking about it.”

Souji stepped closer and when Minato didn’t pull away, took his hand. They walked over to the wall and sank to the ground where Minato sighed and rested his head on Souji’s shoulder. Listening to the chatter of the Not-Really Students, the music coming from one of the booths a floor down, they sat in silence. Holding hands as if it could keep them from getting too lost in their own thoughts.

“You’re worried about it too?”

Souji picked at a stray thread on his jacket’s cuff. “I keep thinking about all the movies I’ve seen about time travel. We’re more displaced, so it’s not really the same thing, but I keep thinking that if we were going to meet again, then we would’ve… already met.”

“Heh, I thought about that too,” Minato said.

“Maybe it just hasn’t happened yet,” Souji sighed. “Like, you’re waiting to hear that the murderer was found so that you don’t disrupt things that need to happen or something. But that’s the kind of thing you do if you go _back_ in time.”

“You’re from a time two years in my future. There’s no way I’d take that long to find you again,” Minato insisted. “I know where you’re going to be; it’d be easy enough to find you.”

“Hmm…” Souji groaned and stretched out his legs. “Saving the world is a pretty big job. Maybe you’re just tied up.”

“I shouldn’t be. Once we beat all the Shadows, that’s it. If I’m still fighting two years from now… man, just the thought makes me wanna take a nap. I’d put someone else in charge for a bit and come sweep you off your feet.”

“Think you could lift me?”

“I’m stronger than I look.”

“I’m heavier than I look.”

“I know,” Minato said, nudging his side. “You’re solid muscle. Trust me, I noticed.”

Souji snickered and squirmed away from his elbow. When Minato relented, Souji let go of his hand to wrap his arm around his shoulders, pulling him in for a quick kiss. They sat in another silence, their thoughts taking over once again. It wasn’t uncomfortable, just very weighted.

“I keep messing up,” Souji said eventually, “wanting things I can’t have. You and Inaba and…” He rested his head back against the wall and lowered his voice to the point it cracked and failed on some words. “I’ve been thinking about that story. The prince never should’ve left his castle. The fool was just setting himself up for disappointment. If he went seventeen years alone, he could go seventeen more.”

From where he sat, Minato could see down onto the third floor. Just a small square at the foot of the stairs. As he watched he heard familiar voices and Shinjiro and Akihiko walked by, not bickering for once.

“The prince never would’ve met the boy if he hadn’t.”

Minato felt Souji fidget with his headphones, wrapping the cord around his finger. “Maybe it would’ve been better that way. Royalty and a commoner; they’re from different worlds. Do you really think they got their fairy tale ending?”

“Why do they have to?”

“That’s – that’s how it’s supposed to work.”

“I don’t think any fairy tales have princes that like boys,” Minato said, “so the story’s already starting off on the wrong foot.”

Souji sighed and Minato rested his head against his shoulder, bending his legs and nearly curling into a ball. Hearing his own thoughts voiced by someone else made him want to deny them. Putting them to words gave them shape and made them inescapable. Hearing his own brand of pessimism from someone as positive and driven as Souji was even worse. Though, he supposed, that would wear on anyone. Sometimes pessimism became inevitable.

Physically and mentally exhausted, Minato closed his eyes and just felt. Felt everything. Felt Souji start to give up and shift the burdens onto his shoulders for a bit. Which was fine. The guy deserved a rest and that was what Minato was there for.

“No matter what I’m getting left behind,” Souji mumbled.

“How do you figure?”

“If – when we meet again, I’m going to be two years younger than you,” Souji said. “In the year you’re from, I’m still in middle school. If we meet in the year I’m from, I’ll still be in high school while you’ll have grown and… I’ll still be this me.”

“I like this you.”

“Hmph.”

“I like every you I’ve seen so far,” Minato said. He rested his head on his knees, looking over his shoulder at Souji with a small smile. “I’m excited to see more.”

Souji laughed. “You’re full of shit. I know you’re just as scared as I am.”

Minato nodded, the smile disappearing from his face. “Yeah.”

There was just something about seeing someone else scared that always calmed you down. Admitting it was another vulnerability but if it could help, then Minato was willing. He couldn’t get much more defenceless at this point, anyway. Might as well dive in head first.

Souji sighed and he closed his eyes, looking as exhausted as Minato felt. Minato watched his profile, the muscle in his jaw tensing as he clenched his teeth and the way his brow furrowed somewhere underneath his fringe, and an infuriating helplessness spread through him. Two Velvet Room guests with fates here, fates elsewhere, fated to part. There was only so much fate could throw at you before it just became unkind.

“I don’t want to forget,” Souji whispered. “I really… _really_ …”

Minato didn’t offer any kind of consolation. He didn’t promise that it would be okay, that the boy and the prince lived happily ever after and that Souji and Minato would definitely remember, definitely meet again. He didn’t say that they wouldn’t, either. All Minato did was brush the hair out of his face and kiss the parts of it always hidden. And when Souji tilted his head and caught his lips, their kiss was gentle with the way he stroked Minato’s cheek, but intense with hints of teeth and tongue.

Footsteps came from the below and worked their way up the stairs. Minato gave Souji one final kiss and made to slide out from under his arm, but Souji tightened his grip and wouldn’t let him.

Even before he saw the head of blonde hair, Minato recognized the indelicate way Aigis’ feet – or lack thereof – stomped up stairs. “I was wondering where you were,” he said, his calm voice sounding odd with the taste of Souji still on his tongue. “What were you up to?”

“Upgrading with the components Leader purchased for me,” she said, stepping onto the landing and holding up a hand. It spun in a full circle with a mechanical whir. “I am glad to see you are well.”

“Are you sure?” Souji asked, looking up at Aigis with a frown. “You can’t sense any racing heartbeat or raised body temperature?”

Minato sent him a sidelong sneer while Aigis shook her head. “Nothing to be concerned about.”

“We’ll have to work on that,” Souji said softly.

“Then are we to head back into the Labyrinth?” Aigis asked.

The corners of Souji’s mouth twitched.

“Yeah, that’s what he meant,” Minato said. With a groan, he finally managed to get out from under Souji’s arm by getting to his feet. He extended a hand, which Souji just looked at for a moment before taking it with a sigh.

“Akihiko-san will be pleased. On my way up I overheard him expressing restlessness,” Aigis said. If she understood the significance of the fact Minato and Souji were still holding hands even after the latter was on his feet, she didn’t say anything. “Should I gather the team?”

Souji stared at the floor, still not saying anything. Minato spoke for him.

“Would you mind? Tell them to meet us in front of the Pride Exhibit. Souji and I will be waiting there.”

“Understood.”

Aigis tromped upstairs and Minato looked at Souji, jerking his head to the stairs leading down. Souji watched him out the corner of his eye as they started downstairs. Knowing what he was thinking, Minato told him, “This isn’t it. The doors will be open, but we won’t have to go through them.”

“Guess not.”

“We’ll spend more time together, but without the Labyrinth hanging over our heads.”

Souji nodded and Minato looked ahead. Akihiko and Shinjiro were down the hall, leaning against the wall and talking quietly. As soon as they saw Minato and Souji, they straightened up. Minato made to pull his hand out of Souji’s, but again Souji tightened his grip and wouldn’t let him. Shinjiro noticed. He glanced down at their hands before catching Minato’s eye, but didn’t say anything.

Akihiko just looked excited and completely missed it. “You guys heading for the Pride Exhibit?”

Minato nodded. “Wanna come with?”

“Definitely. It’s been ages; I thought you were slacking on us, Leader.”

“A little,” Souji admitted. “Sorry.”

“Ignore him,” Shinjiro said flatly. He placed a broad hand on Akihiko’s back and began pushing him down the hall. “We’ll go on ahead.”

Minato watched them go. Just before they rounded a corner, he thought he might’ve seen Shinjiro take Akihiko’s hand, but it was hard to tell. The only surprising thing was that Minato was surprised at all. He looked to Souji, staring vacantly after them, and swung their hands a little.

“All we can do is push forward,” Minato told him. “I know it’s hard, but you can rely on me when you need to.” He took a deep breath. “Let’s g–”

Souji kissed him. Quickly, but intensely enough that Minato nearly lost his balance. If it wasn’t for the hold Souji had on his jacket he probably would’ve fallen over. When Souji pulled away there was a smirk on his face.

“Let’s go,” he said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Day 7:**  
>  **Ayurnamat** _(noun)_ – the philosophy that there is no point in worrying about events that cannot be changed

Lying on his back, using their uniform jackets as a pillow, all Souji could see was the pure blue sky. Bright sun, no clouds. No breeze, no birdsongs, no sounds of traffic nor kids playing. A silence beyond what even the real Inaba was capable of. The air was so close to body temperature that it felt like nothing at all. Not cold, nor hot. There could be no doubt that world was a fabrication. He hadn’t noticed it while surrounded by their loud friends and distracted by the path before them. Nearly alone and almost at the end, it was almost overwhelming.

Souji bit his tongue and looked away. Then all there was to see was a different kind of blue, resting on his shoulder and tickling his jaw. He combed his fingers through it and Minato inhaled deeply, pressing his hands flat against the small of Souji’s back and nuzzling closer. Minato’s breath on his neck and Minato’s body against him warmed Souji more than any false sun ever could have.

“Almost fell asleep,” Minato mumbled.

“I know. That’s why I woke you up.”

“Heh. Thanks.”

After all, it was all over and these were their last moments together.

The fourth labyrinth opened a fifth and they got a little more time together, but they had won that battle like every other. On their final tour of the place, the team had come to the roof to reminisce and when they left, Souji and Minato stayed behind (and no one said anything about it; by that point everyone had caught on). Once the door closed behind the last person, Souji led him up the ladder to sit on top of the roof access. Reminiscent of where Souji had once hung out with Ai, but this one didn’t have a water tank. Just another difference between this world and the real one.

“I keep thinking,” Minato said, “about this friend I have. You would like him, I think. I bet him and Kanji would get along. He was in Iwatodai for a bit but he had to go home to France.”

“You must miss him.”

“I do,” Minato said fondly. “He taught me to sew and we always went to the Sweet Shop together. Normally people that are happy all the time are exhausting, but I loved that about him. It only… it made me realize I want to like something – anything, half as much as he does. I think about it every time I’m in band or at track and I feel like I just wanna go home and sleep. It doesn’t fix anything, but… I don’t know, I guess it’s a connection or something.”

Between a sun that didn’t move and watches that didn’t work, it was impossible to tell how long they had been there. Lying against the concrete roof wasn’t the most comfortable thing but it was the most private place they were going to be able to find. And there was something nice about being so high up, even without the wind or birdsongs.

Souji untucked the back of Minato’s shirt and slid his hand underneath, pressing against his warm skin. Minato exhaled, long and slow.

“And… I have this other friend I met through track. He left too; he had to go out west for work. And there was another guy that I used to hang out with at the shrine near my dorm. He… I guess he died, but… I have this book he wrote and… what I’m saying is, I guess that even when I’m not thinking about them directly, I still remember the things I’ve learned from them. I’m not the same person I was last year and I won’t be this me next year.”

The only part of Souji Minato could get his arms around without crushing them between his weight and the rough asphalt roof was the small of his back. He rubbed it a little as he spoke, just a finger or two side to side, which was all the small curve would allow.

“I know that nothing lasts forever and I think that even if it did, it wouldn’t be good. It’s good for things to change. It’s scary, but… relationships need to evolve. People can’t stagnate or they’ll get bored and apathetic.”

Souji stared unblinkingly up at the sky. Only when his eyes started burning did he close them, rubbing them with them back of his hand and sighing.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m still really fucking bitter about how little time we did actually get together.”

“You’re allowed to be,” Souji said, his voice breaking a little after not using it for so long.

Minato sighed. “Yeah.”

Because life wasn’t a fairy tale and they knew that. Sometimes boys didn’t get to marry their princes. Their destined partners. But if the alternative was to have never met then it was no alternative at all. It wasn’t even worth considering. There would be no story, no anything. Just isolation.

Being mad and resentful, kicking and screaming and refusing to accept the truth, it would’ve been easy. Part of Souji still wanted to. But he had seen enough Shadows to know fighting the truth was a losing battle. And he was so, so tired of fighting.

“If we do forget,” Souji said, “then… I hope you’re right. I hope you and I still remember our connection. I’m… I’m still scared of being left behind but if it’s a change for the better, then…”

Minato sighed again, more forcefully and angrily this time, and buried his face in Souji’s shoulder. Souji toyed with his hair, nudging his head until he would finally look at him. When he did, Souji kissed the very tip of his nose. Nothing happened, so he kissed his forehead, his temple, his cheeks, his chin, his jaw – everywhere until Minato finally gave in and started laughing.

Forgotten or not, he didn’t want his last memories of Minato to be sad ones. He wanted them to be of that little squeak Minato made when he tried to inhale while laughing, and the way he ended every kiss with a smaller second like he worried one wasn’t enough to get his meaning across. His taste, his touch, his scent, everything about him. What it felt to be enveloped in him. Things would change and endings would come, but for now Souji held him close and closed his eyes.


End file.
